Electrical conduit systems are required in order to safely provide electric power to homes, commercial buildings, and the like. These conduit systems often include long runs of rigid electrical conduits with frequent changes in direction, such as 90° turns, and interruptions with various couplings to accommodate bends or changes in direction. The conduits themselves serve to provide a protective housing for the wires therein and to route these wires throughout the building or other installation as required. Conduits are typically constructed of a rigid metal pipe.
Conduit bodies are often installed in the conduit systems at various locations to provide accesses to the wires in the conduits, or to route the wires through a bulkhead, an electrical equipment enclosure, a junction box, or other electrical fixture. Conventional conduit bodies can have openings at one or more ends as well as through the upper and lower walls.
Typically, wires are inserted through an opening on the bottom or side of the conduit body and out through another opening located along another side or top of the conduit body. The friction caused by rubbing of the wires against the edges of the hub access port of the conduit body makes it difficult to pull the wire through the conduit housing, especially if there are many bends along the conduit length. While power pullers are used for this purpose, it is not unusual for the puller cords to break, leaving a partially pulled wire end that is very difficult to access within the conduit. In addition, the friction of the wire insulation rubbing against the edges of openings of the conduit body may damage the insulation on the wires.
Attempts to minimize such friction associated with the rubbing of wires against the openings of conduit bodies have been less than satisfactory. For instance, some manufacturers have inserted roller pins and smooth shields to minimize the friction. However, these attempts to minimize such friction do not satisfactorily address the problem.
Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the friction associated with wires rubbing against the inside of the openings of a conduit body.